Man City drops 2 more points in pursuit of United

Monday

Feb 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool did Manchester United a big favor in the Premier League on Sunday, holding Manchester City to a 2-2 draw to leave the defending champions nine points behind their neighbors in the title race.

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool did Manchester United a big favor in the Premier League on Sunday, holding Manchester City to a 2-2 draw to leave the defending champions nine points behind their neighbors in the title race.

Sergio Aguero's 79th-minute goal gave City one point that will be of little comfort to manager Roberto Mancini, whose team has dropped four points in six days and is struggling to keep pace with United.

Tottenham beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the other game thanks to another superb goal from star winger Gareth Bale, and is now just a point behind third-place Chelsea.

The game turned on the ejection of West Brom defender Goran Popov in the 48th minute for spitting in the direction of Spurs right back Kyle Walker. Bale scored 19 minutes later.

"I'm absolutely disgusted with Goran's behavior," West Brom manager Steve Clarke said. "There's no excuse for that. There's no place for it in life, never mind on a football pitch."

Liverpool stayed seventh — nine points behind Spurs and six behind fifth-place Everton, which occupies the league's sole Europa League spot — and is still awaiting a victory over a team in the top half of the standings this season.

City had one of its poorest games at home this season and couldn't cope with the pace of Liverpool forwards Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez. Sturridge, a recent signing from Chelsea, offset Edin Dzeko's 23rd-minute opening goal with a fiercely struck shot six minutes later.

"I feel like I am maturing a bit, getting a bit fitter," said Sturridge, who nevertheless finished the match with a bandage around his left thigh.

Steven Gerrard rifled home a dipping volley in the 73rd to leave City on the brink of only its second home loss this season. But Aguero came to the rescue by running onto Gareth Barry's cross, rounding goalkeeper Pepe Reina and finding the net from a sharp angle.

BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi extended his record streak by scoring in his 12th consecutive Spanish league game to give leader Barcelona a 1-1 draw at Valencia on Sunday, while Atletico Madrid remained perfect at home through 20 games in all competitions.

Midfielder Ever Banega struck first for Valencia in the 33rd, only for Messi to level for the visitors from the penalty spot six minutes later.

Former Valencia star David Villa had Barcelona's best chance late but failed to finish on the break before goalkeeper Victor Valdes made an excellent save to deny Roberto Soldado two minutes from time and ensure a point for each side.

"We never take the league title for granted, there is still a long way to go," said defender Jordi Alba in his first trip back to Valencia since joining Barcelona last offseason. "Today we played against a great team."

Second-place Atletico cut into Barcelona's hefty lead by beating Real Betis 1-0 to reduce the gap with the pacesetters to nine points.

Radamel Falcao returned for Atletico after a two-week injury layoff, but it took forward Diego Costa coming off the bench in the 56th to head home the winner five minutes later.

Also, Malaga was held to a 1-1 home draw by Real Zaragoza, with forward Julio Baptista returning after a 16-month layoff with a broken right foot.

Sevilla, improving under new coach Unai Emery, beat visiting Rayo Vallecano 2-1. Helder Postiga side-footed a long pass into the far corner of the net to score for Zaragoza 13 minutes into the game. Sevilla remained in the middle of the standings after its third straight home win. Rayo stayed in sixth place.

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ROME (AP) — Mario Balotelli marked his return to Serie A by scoring both goals — including the winner in added time — in AC Milan's 2-1 win over Udinese on Sunday.

Balotelli gave Milan the lead in the 25th minute at the San Siro by redirecting a cross from Stephen El Shaarawy at the edge of the box with one touch. Then after Giampiero Pinzi had brought Udinese level in the 55th, Balotelli put Milan back in front with a penalty four minutes into injury time.

"Playing for Milan was my dream and I'll do everything possible to win in the face of those who thought I wasn't worthy of Milan," said Balotelli, who grew up cheering for the Rossoneri.

After cooly kicking in the winner, Balotelli held his arms out wide toward the crowd, as if saying, "Here I am."

"Balotelli is a first-rate star," said Milan vice president Adriano Galliani, who orchestrated the Italy striker's transfer from Manchester City.

The win moved Milan level with its city rival and Balotelli's former club Inter Milan in fourth place, 12 points behind Italian league leader Juventus.

Earlier Sunday, Juventus won 2-1 at Chievo Verona to move three points clear of Napoli again.

Juventus striker Alessandro Matri scored 10 minutes in at the Bentegodi stadium with a spectacular volley and midfielder Stephan Lichtsteiner doubled the lead in the 42nd after receiving a backheel pass from Sebastian Giovinco.

Cyril Thereau pulled one back for Chievo in the 52nd.

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BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund withstood a late rally from Bayer Leverkusen to win 3-2 and move above the home side into second place in the Bundesliga.

Marco Reus scored in the third minute and Jakub Blaszczykowski made it 2-0 to Dortmund from a penalty kick six minutes later.

Leverkusen pulled one back in the 58th, when Stefan Kiessling set up Stefan Reinartz for the midfielder's first goal of the season. He got his second four minutes later, only for Robert Lewandowski to reply straight away for the defending champions at the other end.

Blaszczykowski had the chance to make it 4-2 in the 71st, but this time Bernd Leno saved the Pole's penalty kick and kept his side in the game, although to little avail.

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PARIS (AP) — Title contenders Lyon and Marseille both lost on Sunday to allow Paris Saint-Germain to open up a gap at the top of the French league.

Lyon took the lead away to Ajaccio before losing its discipline in a 3-1 away defeat, and Marseille then lost 1-0 at home to visiting Nancy, which was in last place before the match.

Marseille had midfielder Joey Barton sent off 15 minutes into the second half but that was not a reason for the defeat. The home side hardly created a chance and again gave up a sloppy goal from a set piece.

"We were rubbish (Sunday), sometimes there's nothing you can say," an angry Marseille winger Mathieu Valbuena said. "We didn't do all we could to win the game, and they were quite simply better than us. Once again we conceded a goal from a set piece. We had to take three points tonight and we have no right to play like that, no right."

PSG had little trouble thumping Toulouse 4-0 on Friday night and leads Lyon by three points and Marseille by six with 15 rounds remaining.

Nancy's win moved it off the bottom and four points away from 17th-place Sochaux. The winning goal came from a corner and underlined Marseille's defensive weakness as goalkeeper Steve Mandanda totally missed the ball and it bounced off winger Andre Ayew on the back post for an own goal.

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AMSTERDAM (AP) — Defending league champion Ajax beat VVV-Venlo 3-0 to advance to second place in the Dutch Eredivisie after 10-man FC Twente lost 4-2 at home to FC Utrecht.

PSV Eindhoven strengthened its position at the top of the Eredivisie by thrashing ADO The Hague 7-0 on Saturday night, bringing the Dick Advocaat-coached team's goal tally to 73 in 21 matches.

Captain Siem de Jong gave Ajax the lead in the 34th minute, latching onto Christian Eriksen's pass and firing past Niki Maenpaa. Viktor Fischer made it 2-0 in the 61st and substitute Derk Boerrigter completed the scoring nine minutes from the end.